Former Broncos CB Chris Harris Jr. retiring after 12 seasons in NFL

Chris Harris is done waiting for another phone call. He's calling it a career.

After preparing for one more opportunity and failing to attract interest, the veteran cornerback is retiring from the NFL after 12 seasons.

"I just waited a year and I stayed in shape, but I realized that everybody was pretty much moving on with the younger players, the younger wave," Harris told The Denver Gazette in a story posted Tuesday. "So I thought it would be great to just call it an end."

An undrafted signee out of Kansas in 2011, Harris proved to be a gem in his pro career, filling a key role as a cornerback in Denver's vaunted "No Fly Zone" defense of the mid-2010s. Alongside Aqib Talib, T.J. Ward and Darian Stewart, Harris and the rest of the Broncos' defense posted a league-best showing in total yards and passing yards allowed per game, forming the NFL's top unit on the way to a triumph over 2015 NFL MVP Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50.

Harris carved out quite a career for himself by winning with grit. He was a tenacious defender and relentless tackler with a nose for the ball that helped him rack up 20 interceptions in nine seasons with the Broncos, rising from unknown to a staple of a Broncos defense that perfectly complemented Peyton Manning in the Hall of Famer's final years in the NFL.

Harris earned four Pro Bowl nods and a first-team All-Pro selection (2016) in his nine years in the Mile High City, enjoying his prime years with a Broncos team that reached the Super Bowl in the 2013 and 2015 seasons. With remarkably consistent production serving as a hallmark of his career, Harris was named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame's All-Decade Team for the 2010s.

As Denver entered a rebuild, Harris found employment in